VA urges churches to aid veterans hurting and looking for help'

As hundreds of thousands of veterans return with physical and psychological injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan, the VA hopes to enlist clergy of all faiths to help veterans struggling with the return home.

A quarter of Americans in need of mental-health services will seek help first from a minister, said Chaplain Jeni Cook, associate director of the VA’s National Chaplain Center. That may be especially true of military service members fearing a stigma or a career setback if they are known to be going to a psychiatrist.